Alexia was walking past a bunch of Athenian soldiers with her mothers. Each of the men and women saluting.
'One day I'll command them.' The teen thought.
At least, that's what her mother had promised her. If she'd actually make good on that promise was still to be seen.
They walked along, entering a building, going up a set of stairs. They entered a corridor and entered the third door to the right. It seemed like a giant board room.
Alexia knew what this was. This was the place where her mother's would discuss the right strategy until either of them cracked. Either Nike would crack and tell her lover victory was within her reach or Athena would crack and tell her girlfriend there was no way they could win with their current resources.
See the victory goddess' job was to make it as hard as possible for anyone to win. Athena's was to make it as easy and efficient as possible.
The teen hoped her angelic mother would crack first. Because if Athena cracked first she wouldn't see Nike until the battle was over. She didn't want to miss her and she didn't want to see her other mother suffer because her angel wouldn't be with her.
Rexhenor was already inside. He gave her a smile and a wink. Whenever Alexia was around him, he tended to let go of the strict military rules for a bit. He knew Athena and Nike didn't really mind.
The girl walked over and wrapped him in a hug. He didn't have children of his own because every waking moment was devoted to his service to Athena. But he treated Alexia as if she were his own.
She had grown so much since the day they'd first found her. By now she turned sixteen years old. She'd grown tall and strong. The young girl already knew that if she was old enough, she'd join her mothers' forces.
If you asked her why she'd tell you 'I already spent so much time with them that they have become a second family. You fight for family.'
"Alright, Rexhenor if you could take Alexia outside with you? Nike and I have plenty to discuss." The wisdom goddess said with a gentle smile.
"Of course ma'am." He said.
He let go of the girl. The soldier put his hand on her shoulder as they walked outside.
"Don't fight too much okay?" The teen said to her mothers right before they exited the room.
"We wouldn't dare." The victory goddess winked with a smile.
Both were being light hearted at the moment, but Rexhenor and Alexia knew that what would follow when they closed the door was a heated argument. An argument that would end with the defeat of one and neither of them liked to lose.
Together the soldier and the girl walked outside. They joined alpha squad as they were having a moment of story telling together.
Alpha squad was Rexhenor's squad. They were his brothers and sisters. He'd gone through so much with them.
"Remember that time in the first World War when the general had Rexie run for ammo the whole time because he pissed her off?" Alayna asked with a chuckle.
"Even Nike stayed away from her that day." Maiko joined in.
Alexia glanced up at Rexhenor.
"That really happend?" The girl asked.
"Trust me kid, even they wouldn't be able to make this up." Rexhenor chuckled in reply.
"Any other stories I should know?" Alexia said, sitting down on a crate next to the luitenant. Her name was Mikaela.
"Oh, where to start kid." She smirked.
"Anything you want to hear?" A trooper named Daemon asked.
"Mhm... Do you have any stories about my moms?" The teen asked.
"Depends on if you're going to tell them or not." Mikaela said, ruffling her hair.
"I won't. Besides what's there to tell? Stories they are part of tend to bore them quite easily." The young girl chuckled.
"Well in that case, maybe we should tell you about this time they took us to infiltrate Chronos' tower." Daemon smirked.
"Chronos' tower?" Alexia asked.
The soldiers all shared a knowing look and nodded. Some barely holding back a smile.
"It all started when the generals entered the briefing room, but I won't bore you with those details. The point is there was this tower of Chronos in which he liked to play all mighty titan. Zeusy didn't agree and sent his dearest daughter and fierce charioteer to take care of the problem." Daemon recounted.
Nike, Athena and Alpha squad stood between the trees and bushes, scouting the objective.
"Generals, are you sure about this? The tower has a fortified courtyard where multiple vehicles are waiting for deployment." Rexhenor pointed out, holding the binoculars in front of his eyes.
Athena and Nike shared a look.
"Positive captain. The odds might not be in our favor, but I'm confident that with our help this squad can succeed where others would fail." Nike responded.
"Besides I can always give them a taste of my bullets." Daemon smirked.
"Wouldn't you like that sergeant." Athena smirked in response.
"We shouldn't have modernized Daemon's weaponry." Diomedes muttered under his breath.
Diomedes was the group's sniper. The best in the entire Athenian army. Back in ancient times he was quite skilled with a bow. But since the invention of the sniper rifle he prefered carrying one of those around.
"I'm with Rexhenor on this general Athena. I doubt we can complete the plan. If we get seen before we make it to the passage through the court yard, we die." Mikaela remarked.
"Then don't get seen." The wisdom goddess said, turning to Mikaela with light hearted smile.
The wisdom goddess prefered not to think too much while she was out on missions like these. Her soldiers may be immortal when they weren't in the field, but they did die in battle. She tended to ignore that fact, seeing as she'd rather none of the people she called friends would die today.
A few moments later, all of them were on their way to the tower, trying to stay hidden in the greenery around them. Before they even made it halfway across they crossed paths with a patrol of dracanae.
'Great.' Nike thought to herself.
The patrol made their numbers for a victory slightly smaller. Sometimes she wished she didn't automatically calculate their odds in her head, but sadly it was part of the job.
With only the look of Athena Diomedes got in place, aiming his sniper rifle at the dracanae. He waited for them to allign perfectly and then took his shot. As the first exploded to dust at the touch of a celestial bronze bullet, the second's eyes rolled in their direction. Before the dracanae could even register what happened she too was hit with the same bullet as the first and exploded into dust.
The sheer skill of that shot impressed Nike. She knew this squad was good from Athena's stories, but she'd never worked with them before.
Seeing the patrol was dealt with the odds rose slightly higher once again. This just might work.
Soon enough the squad and the two goddesses were sneaking around the courtyard. Athena had ordered Daemon and Mikaela to set some explosives underneath the vehicles in case they needed a last minute distraction.
The wisdom goddess hoped they wouldn't need them since this was a stealth operation, but if everything went to Hades, she might as well take a few enemies along.
Once Mikaela and Daemon returned they made sure Diomedes was hidden in a proper spot so he could cover their escape.
Rexhenor muttered a Greek curse underneath his breath. He had endless respect for his generals' plans because they got him out of some gnaly situations, but he preferred keeping Diomedes with the rest of the squad.
"Something you wish to share Rexhenor?" Athena whispered.
Somehow she always knew. Those grey eyes pierced into his own eyes and seemed to force the truth out of him. He couldn't lie to her even if he tried.
"I just figured keeping Diomedes close would be a better option. He's our best asset and everything we're counting on to escape. What if he is found? Then we have no one to clear the path out." The captain whispered back.
That and he would lose the person he cared most about. But he didn't have to say that, Athena knew that was his true reason. The rest of the squad didn't know what played between the captain and the sniper, but the wisdom goddess and the angel? How could they not?
"Alright in that case... You stay with him and make sure nothing happens to our way out." Athena said.
Rexhenor nodded. He was so grateful that his general understood.
Again Nike automatically counted the odds of winning in her head. They lowered since the moving squad lost two of their stronger teammates, yet the daughter of Zeus still seemed like she saw no harm. The angel knew her girlfriend was aware that their odds were lowering. As a goddess of strategy she would know the way to win was getting harder and harder to find.
The victory goddess also knew that's how her lover preferred her battles. A challenge to her intellect. Anything less would almost be an insult and not worthy of her attention.
"We snuck into that tower that day and made it all the way to the core where we took out the powerhouse of the tower making it slowly destroy itself inside out." Diomedes finished the story.
"Wooowww..." Alexia whispered.
"And what did you use to take out the tower?" She added I her regular voice.
"Your mothers asked us to leave the room so we'll never know for sure. But we think they unleashed their divine light and pushed all its energy into the core reactor of the tower causing a major overload. Judging by how tired they were I assume that is what actually happened." Mikaela said.
"You're all forgetting the best part." Daemon whined.
"Are we now?" Rexhenor asked, prettending he didn't know what his brother in arms was talking about.
"Oh come onnn... You know damn well that's the only time lady Athena trusted me with a swith that detonates a set of bombs." The soldier continued.
"Probably also the reason why she's never doing that again either." Diomedes added in a dry tone.
Alexia gave Mikaela a confused look.
"We we're spotted by a couple of Chronos' toughs and had to make a quick escape. We hoped we could count on Rexhenor and Diomedes to cover us since we had lady Athena and lady Nike that needed to be held upright because of all the energy they used." Mikaela started.
"Sadly we had been spotted too and had to make a run for it." Rexhenor continued.
"Since I was the one holding lady Athena upright I was the one to receive the switch." Daemon smirked.
"D-Daemon I need you to do something for me." Athena panted.
"Of course ma'am. What is it that you need?" Daemon replied.
"I need you to hold this for me and to push the button when I tell you too okay?" The wisdom goddess asked.
The word button triggered a thought in Daemons mind.
'The bombs.' It raced through his mind.
He saw Athena's mouth move, but he no longer heard the words. The soldier really just wanted to press the button now. He saw Rexhenor and Diomedes sprint over the rooftops trying to get their attention.
They waved and pointed towards the front gate. They needed a diversion in order to get out of here. They needed it now not when the General gave the order.
"Hold her will you?" Daemon turned to Mikaela with a wicked grin.
Instead of leaning on to the sergeant, the wisdom goddess now leaned on her luitenant.
"Sure, but what are you going to-"
"Get them to the gate as fast as you can." Daemon commanded.
"Daemon what are you doing?" Athena asked, her voice full of warning.
"Getting us out of here." He responded.
"Don't even try. You won't win. There's an entire squadron of monsters on it's way here." Nike added.
"Trust me I know what I'm doing." The sergeant said, looking over his shoulder with a grin.
"Yeah, I don't know about that." Mikaela said, doubt clear in her voice.
"Yeah well, apparently I do because the general gave me the switch." He said.
"Remember me to never again hand a detonater to Sergeant Daemon of the alpha division in the Athenian army." The wisdom goddess grumbled.
"Then what happened?" Alexia asked.
"The punk nearly fried my wings off." Nike's voice said coming from behind them.
When they turned both goddesses were standing there. Both with a smile. They seemed tired, but relieved.
"How did it go?" Rexhenor asked.
"I'll brief you all later." Athena said.
"But first, tell me another story."